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1500 questions
22
votes
12 answers
What makes a character irredeemable?
Let's look at two characters who are generally considered to be iredeemable:
The Diamond Authority (from Steven Universe): The extremely childish leaders of the race of spacefaring lesbian magical girl viruses, known as gems. They are responsible…
Mephistopheles
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22
votes
7 answers
How does one include sign language in a dialogue?
If one character is using sign language and lip reading while the other is speaking normally, how do you represent the lines of the former? Quotations with "he signed" attribution or italics? E.g.
"When did you first feel the pain?" asked the…
HNL
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22
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14 answers
Pronouns when writing from the point of view of a robot
For the writing challenge, I'm currently writing from the point of view of a robot. Also another robot is frequently addressed. However I've hit a problem: Referring to the robots as “it” often gives confusing sentences.
It probably doesn't help…
celtschk
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22
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5 answers
How to not confuse readers with simultaneous events?
In an omniscient third person, I have 8 (practically unrelated) events going simultaneously in different parts of a large mansion. I want to present these events as they happen, but I feel jumping around every two sentences is bound to cause…
Weckar E.
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votes
5 answers
emacs for creative writing
Does anyone know a good emacs configuration for creative writing? I'd be looking for the ability to write, edit, and export to libre office or word (so the less technical people get edit/view). I'm looking for something that would be appropriate for…
John
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7 answers
Showing mass murder in a kid's book
Galastel did a spin off question based on one of mine.
Mortal danger in mid-grade literature.
And hers has spurred a new one for me.
This is an issue I've been grappling with for a while and I still don't have a solution for it. I had thought to…
Cyn
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22
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5 answers
How to write cleanly even if my character uses expletive language?
I'm writing a story that I'd like younger readers to pick up. I and they know and understand that some situations are far better expressed with one f-word than a thousand milder ones. I'm keeping my narrative clean, but when I write the dialogue, I…
iamtowrite
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votes
8 answers
How to write painful torture scenes without being over-the-top
I'm trying to write torture scenes but I'm not really all that confident about it since I've never written anything like it before and have never really witnessed anything violent. I know the methods and steps of the tortures I want to write about…
Tiana
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7 answers
How to tell readers your story is a re-imagination of a popular story?
If for example, I were to rewrite a story heavily inspired by Romeo and Juliet, but placed it in a complete different setting. Do you have to say it? Also, do you mention it in the title that's it's a reimagining, or would you put it in the preface.…
Sayaman
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22
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6 answers
How soon is too soon for a redemption arc?
My character, Day, is the son of a dictator and the director of state-sanctioned and sponsored torture of mutated humans, one of whom is my MC. He killed his own sister to prove to his father that he was worthy of his government position.
After…
user34214
22
votes
11 answers
How to describe skin colour, if "white" is not the point of reference?
A character looks at another character, skin colour creates certain associations. A character looks at himself, and associations would be shaped by society, and by what is "normal" in that society. What we refer to as "black", for example covers a…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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22
votes
8 answers
How should a big universe be introduced without being boring?
If I have a big universe that I need to set up, with lots of characters, lots of locations, magic rules, technology, government rules, is it okay to introduce and explain all of this at the beginning? How much of can be introduced at the beginning…
SomeBeginner
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12 answers
How can I make a character who isn't a jerk seem like one?
I have an MC who, because of certain circumstances, everyone sees him as harsh and cruel at first. As they get to know him through the first few chapters, they eventually see he's nicer than they thought. How do I describe that in a novel? (If you…
Kale Slade
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7 answers
Is head-hopping always bad?
The general consensus nowadays seems to be that being in the head of more than one character is bad. We should be "on the shoulders" or "in the head" of one character, and one character only, if not throughout the novel, then at least throughout a…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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6 answers
How advisable is it to end a love story on a downer?
For example, it doesn't end with the leads getting together; rather, one of them dies or the relationship is left ambiguous. I know that taking this approach would be bad if the genre I was aiming for was 'romance', but what if the love story is…
Jack Rabbit
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